UKM News Official Portal

By Kuah Guan Oo

BANGI, 30  August 2010 –A group of researchers at  Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)  has developed a method to help preserve mild steel that could help save various oil and gas installations from the destructive effects of corrosion.

Companies involved in the exploration, development, production and transportation of oil and gas spent millions every year to protect their various infrastructure installations including pipelines and submarine cables from corrosion.

Millions more have also been spent to carry out research to produce anti-corrosion agents that can best protect those expensive and valuable infrastructures.

With a grant of RM200,000 from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations, Prof Dr Abdul Amir Kadhum of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, UKM and his team worked to find the best protection for mild steel and they found it when they mixed sulfur and nitrogen molecules in the right proportions.

Based on the general concept that phosphorous offers the best protection for mild steel, followed by sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen, Prof Amir and his team wondered if they would have an anti-corrosion agent that could beat phosphorous if they were to combine sulfur and nitrogen.

“Yes, we found that we can. The resulting anti-corrosion agent offered us 96% protection of mild steel in low concentration in the lab,” said the Iraqi-born scientist who has been a permanent resident in Malaysia for the last 24 years, lecturing at UKM.

He said during the trial of the new anti-corrosion agent, they found that when used as an additive; it would not interfere with the medium, nor cause any contamination.

The molecules, he said, would interact with the mild steel surface, forming a stable and thin layer or coating, thus preventing oxygen and other charged materials from reaching the metal surface and affording a good protection to corrosion.

“From the study, the molecules would dissolve in water but when they come into contact with the metal surface, they would stick onto the metal surface, giving excellent corrosion protection,” he explained.

Prof Amir who is married to a Malaysian, had obtained his B.Sc in Chemistry from the University of Baghdad in 1971 and a masters in Analytical Chemistry there in 1977. He went on to get his Ph.D in Physical Chemistry from the University of Leeds in 1984 before joining UKM as a lecturer.

Prof Dr Amir, who had eight patents to his name, including one on fuel additive and an electrochemical power generator, said he was in the processing of getting the anti-corrosion agent patented.

In the meantime, he would welcome any private sector interest in more trials with a view to commercializing the agent. –

Prof Dr Amir Kadhum can be contacted at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

038921-6411 (office)